Semi-automatic pistols, although being widely adopted by law enforcement agencies in recent years, are not, particularly in the larger calibers and at high rates of fire, the easiest type of handgun to control and accurately fire. A number of considerations are involved in the design of such handguns including the configuration and dimensioning of the handgrip and its relationship to the trigger and other controls so as to improve the fit between the gun and shooting hand of the majority of users. It is the intent of this invention to provide a secure and comfortable handgrip and with its dimensional relationship to the trigger, one that will facilitate the aiming and firing of the gun for the first and each succeeding round.
One of the principal concerns in such design is the adaptation of the relatively small area of the handgrip inherent to all handguns for the shooting hands of all the persons of all sizes and shapes who may be called upon to use the handguns which embody this invention. In the adaptation of mechanical devices for manual control, while it is relatively simple to custom-fit the device for particular individuals, it is an entirely different matter when the device is to be adapted to interfit with a broad cross-section of the population. It is especially difficult to design a handgun for modern-day law enforcement organizations, which in recent years have become a great deal more inclusive in the selection of its officers in relation to the make up of the overall population. Indeed, such organizations are likely to include a wide variety of racial and ethnic groups as well as male and female officers all of whom make for an officer universe of greater diversity of sizes and shapes than ever before. In the design of handguns of the type embodying this invention, the guns are designed to be held primarily by one hand, although in some instances, the non-shooting hand may be used to support or to be superimposed about the shooting hand to help steady the gun.
Another factor contributing to the difficulties associated with holding, aiming and accurately firing a handgun, is the relatively strong recoil force. Recoil being the reactive force that is equal and opposite to the force that is imparted to the bullet expelled from the barrel of the gun is in line with the longitudinal axis of the barrel. Since the shooter's hand is disposed on the grip below the recoil axis, a moment arm exists which tends to rotate the gun upwardly as well as rearward. After each round is fired, the gun must be retargeted mostly in a generally downward direction for each subsequent round and when firing a semi-automatic pistol, especially in a rapid fire mode, the gun can be quite difficult to control and may result in fatigue of the shooter's hand, wrist, arm and other upper body muscles. In such situations, the shooter's performance levels have been found to drop off rather sharply and it has been difficult for law enforcement agencies which include greater numbers of women to achieve consistently high scores on the firing range.
A recently published article in the December 1992 edition of THE POLICE CHIEF entitled: THE IMPORTANCE OF ERGONOMICS IN SEMI-AUTOMATIC WEAPONS SELECTION discusses this very problem. That article, based upon the scores of 216 students who participated in firearms training, concluded with a finding that of the women tested there was a failure rate of forty percent (40%) as compared to four percent (4%) for the men who were also tested. The greater failure rate among the women was primarily attributed to the women's generally smaller hand size and lesser upper body strength.
In attempting to improve the shooter's comfort and the accuracy of handguns over the years, many shooting aids and other devices have been suggested. Such devices range from simple grip adapters to more elaborate custom contoured grips and modern cushioned grips, as variously disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 926,529; 3,027,673; 3,815,270; 4,043,066; 4,132,024; 4,148,149; 4,242,824; 4,286,401; 4,359,833 and 4,586,282. While in one way or another, some of these cushioning devices have been help fill in reducing discomfort to the shooter's hand caused by recoil of the gun, they also tend to enlarge the grip and/or to adversely affect the "feel" or control of the gun and thus make for less accuracy, especially for shooters with smaller hands. In short, such grips have not proved entirely satisfactory from the standpoint of improving the ergonomics incident to the interfit of the handgun and the shooter's hand sizes particularly when used in handgrips of general or universal application.
It is a principal object of this invention to provide a semi-automatic handgun having an improved handgrip incorporating human factors principals that is adapted for more effective and safer performance by shooters of broader anthropological cross-section than heretofore.
A further object of this invention is to provide a semi-automatic handgun of the above type characterized by an improved inherent pointability.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a semi-automatic handgun having a grip configuration for ease of use and comfort.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a semi-automatic handgun of the above type having the capability of improved accuracy by greater numbers of shooters.
In accordance with this invention, a semi-automatic handgun is defined by a unitary polymeric frame which supports a reciprocably movable slide thereon. A portion of the frame comprises a handgrip that includes a metacarpal receiving portion defined by a front strap, a back strap and side cheeks and a concave saddle is formed along the upper portion of the back strap, contiguous with the uppermost rear portion of the frame. A concave channel in the form of a recess is provided on each side of the frame and extends from a point adjacent the saddle toward the trigger. Each channel is adapted to receive and support, for both right and left-hand shooters, the thumb on one side of the frame and at the same time, the forefinger on the opposite side thereof. Each of the channels is further defined by a convex ridge at the lower edge thereof that extends from adjacent the lower end of the saddle to a point adjacent the front strap and the trigger. The metacarpal portion of the handgrip is generally below the ridges and is defined by convexly curved front and back straps and side cheeks formed with palm swells that fare smoothly with the curved surfaces of the front and back straps.
The above and other objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily apparent from a reading of the following description of an exemplary embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the following drawing.